Garments which may be converted into carrier bags or similar luggage carriers are generally well-known in the prior art. It is also known in the art to provide a garment wherein a pouch is provided for receiving the garment in a folded arrangement for convenient carriage and storage. Convertible garments which provide carrying bags have general application for use as tote or utility bags. In leisure outerwear and in particular sportswear, garments which may be converted into carrying bags provide convenient barriers for athletic apparel and sporting equipment. In a similar manner, garment and pouch arrangements provide outerwear to accommodate changing weather inclemencies in a readily portable pouch. For these and other reasons, convertible garments have been provided in the form of outerwear and active sportswear apparel.
However, prior art garment and carrying bag arrangements have proved generally unsatisfactory and unworkable in practice in that they have been characterized by elaborate arrangements of securing fasteners and complicated folding procedures. Further limitations in known garment/carrying bag arrangements have been presented by the failure of the art to provide a convertible bag construction having utility for providing both a carrying bag and a large capacity pocket in an aesthetically fashionable manner. In this regard, it will be appreciated that it is advantageous to provide such large capacity pockets so that either the outer garment or pocket may conveniently be used as an enclosure for articles, thus providing convenience and versatility in the convertible garment.
The prior art has also failed to provide a convertible garment arrangement including both carrying bag and pouch constructions. Such an arrangement is needed in the art to provide the convenience of a compact portable pouch for containing a combination outerwear and carrying bag construction.
As representative of the prior art garment and carrying bag arrangements, reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 2,146,243 to Aur. This patent discloses a combination garment and handbag wherein the interior of the garment is provided with cooperating "slide fastener" element bearing tapes arranged in spaced horizontal and vertical orientation. A carrying bag is provided by folding the garment into a substantially rectangular arrangement so that the cooperating fastening elements may be engaged at opposing side edges of the rectangle and across a longitudinal end of the folded garment to provide the carrying bag. As a further feature, the patent discloses that it is advantageous to provide an interior yoke or liner overlying the fastening element tapes to alleviate discomfort associated with the arrangement of fastening tapes positioned on the interior surface of the garment. Difficulties with this arrangement are presented in that the outer garment must be folded in a precise manner for engagement of the fastening elements to provide the carrying bag. As a further disadvantage, Aur requires provision of a liner in order to provide an outer garment having a comfort fit, limiting, in large part, application of the Aur design for use in lightweight apparel.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,058,474 to Long there is disclosed a combination garment and carrying bag which includes a conventional outerwear garment and an interior lining or "body area" having generally opposed arcuate side edges. A carrying bag is provided by folding the outerwear garment within the area defined by the lining body area and securing the arcuate side edges in engagement. For this purpose, Long provides cooperating zipper fastening elements secured to the arcuate lining edges. Once again, this arrangement presents difficulties by the inclusion of fastening elements on an interior surface of the garment, presenting discomfort to the wearer. Also, by reason of complicated folding procedures, Long does not provide a readily convertible garment and carrying bag combination.
Insofar as applicant is aware, other teachings of the art are primarily directed to the provision of garment and pouch arrangements which do not provide the utility and advantages of outerwear of the type to which the present invention is directed wherein there is provided a carrying bag and pouch. Such pouch arrangements of the prior art are represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,292,347, 2,325,494, 2,324,722 and 2,825,902.
Accordingly, it is a broad object of the present invention to provide an improved combination outer garment and carrying bag arrangement.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an outerwear garment and carrying bag arrangement wherein the carrying bag is provided by a topologically continuous pocket secured to the garment in an aesthetically fashionable manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an outerwear and carrying bag combination including an improved securing bag enclosure design which does not require an overlying protective liner when the combination is arranged to provide an outer garment.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an outerwear garment and carrying bag combination including a topologically continuous pouch designed to readily receive the combination for convenient portability and storage.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a convertible outerwear carrying bag and pouch combination with improved manufacturing advantages by having fewer, and lesser need for precise tolerances than garments made according to the prior art.